Reposting my setup here. It's not the best setup but it's based on trying different things. Might be useful for those who are trying to figure out their own setup:
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Just another opinion on the balanced note taking method:
I think org-mode solves almost all offline note-taking requirements
* org-roam makes it super-easy to link notes
* emacs as an editor is as usable as any other editor
* Rich media is possible and easy to do in org-mode. Attach a snapshot, embed a video file
* Code with documentation is a feature not available in most other note taking methods/apps. It's possible to run code snippets and add comments, documentation about them in the same space
* Latex support is advanced. Inline equations work seamlessly
* Search support is advanced
Drawbacks:
* One of the main drawbacks is that all your notes end up offline. This was a deal-breaker for me. ox-hugo helps in publishing your notes to a (private) static site where it can be searched, viewed but not edited on the fly
* Publishing through ox-hugo is separate from maintaining a backup/sync of your notes in /org/ format. You'll have to do this separately through Dropbox/GDrive/etc
* A backup of your org notes is not usable until you set up your emacs environment and download all your notes
One drawback you omitted is that you have to set it up and learn how to use it before you reach a point where it competes with other less sophisticated solutions.
I try to keep some notes.org file and use it regularly, but I'm just faster with unix tools and vim, so it's hard to make the upfront investment in learning emacs and start somewhat from scratch. I think there's also some kind of discoverability issue with org-mode features: I don't really know which features should I look into to improve my setup further and have something really nice instead of a glorified markdown.
One day I'll just read the manual from start to finish and try to start properly from there, one day.
> One drawback you omitted is that you have to set it up and learn how to use it before you reach a point where it competes with other less sophisticated solutions.
I've not found this to be the case. org mode has an extremely shallow learning curve.
If your note taking flow is simple, it will be correspondingly simple in org mode.
Once you start adding sophistications to your workflow, you may find some tool that is easier to use than going through the trouble of configuring org mode, but only if that tool's author shared a very similar mindset to you. I've not found this to be the case for my workflow. Even worse, if you decide you want to try some other workflow, that tool likely will not be as flexible and you'll have to hunt for another tool. And possibly migrate all your notes to it.
If you use a flexible solution that lets you alter your workflow, you'll find it will compare with org mode in terms of ease of use.
> I think there's also some kind of discoverability issue with org-mode features: I don't really know which features should I look into to improve my setup further and have something really nice instead of a glorified markdown.
I mostly discover these by reading people's blog posts on how they use org mode. Having said that, I tweak it very rarely, often with a few years in between any major tweak/exploration.
> One day I'll just read the manual from start to finish and try to start properly from there, one day.
It's a good idea, but don't expect a massive productivity increase from it. Often you'll read something and say "That sounds cool, but I'm not sure how I'd use it." I usually get more insights from other people posting how they used feature X than from reading about feature X in the manual.
I have been just using a single function `org-roam-find-file` to insert or read an existing note.
I'm pretty sure there are various other functionalities, but this seems to be enough for me as of now. If I have to search something with it, I just fall back to deadgrep's [0] interface. So, I don't think you need to read the entire manual to be productive! Infact, I would say that starting small and slowing forming the habit is a good way to use this effectively.
I spend lots of time learning the tools I use for work (database systems, departmental protocols, client interactions) and having a better personal productivity tool is at the center of everything I do. It's worth months of heavy investment in the long run.
To know what features you need you first need to know what method you will use, that's the hard part and orgmode or any other note taking app will not help you with that.
> One day I'll just read the manual from start to finish and try to start properly from there, one day.
Define "manual", because I've been using org-mode since (greps .org files) . . . 2010, and I still haven't read the manual cover to cover. I just look things up and tweak as needed, which I think is key. You can go looking for features, but you're usually better off following a YAGNI and "google the stack answer" sort of mindset.
Yeah, you're right. It's not for the casual user. Emacs itself has "unwieldy keybindings" as many say. I switch between vim and emacs all the time but it's not for everybody
Might be misleading for me to say "embed" a video. Emacs definitely cannot play video (there are some round-about ways but org-mode is strictly text only)
I meant it's possible to embed a link/thumbnail that will open the file in the player of choice
=======
Just another opinion on the balanced note taking method:
I think org-mode solves almost all offline note-taking requirements
* org-roam makes it super-easy to link notes
* emacs as an editor is as usable as any other editor
* Rich media is possible and easy to do in org-mode. Attach a snapshot, embed a video file
* Code with documentation is a feature not available in most other note taking methods/apps. It's possible to run code snippets and add comments, documentation about them in the same space
* Latex support is advanced. Inline equations work seamlessly
* Search support is advanced
Drawbacks:
* One of the main drawbacks is that all your notes end up offline. This was a deal-breaker for me. ox-hugo helps in publishing your notes to a (private) static site where it can be searched, viewed but not edited on the fly
* Publishing through ox-hugo is separate from maintaining a backup/sync of your notes in /org/ format. You'll have to do this separately through Dropbox/GDrive/etc
* A backup of your org notes is not usable until you set up your emacs environment and download all your notes